Chinese Chicken Salad

Chinese Chicken Salad

I love making light, clean and good salads as part of my healthy living lifestyle. There is no better time to make salads as farmers market are sprouting up everywhere this time of year and you can get all kinds of fresh produce from your local farmers. One of my favorite salads to make is Chinese Chicken Salad—simple green toss with grilled chicken in a savory and tangy Chinese dressing.

On days when I am too lazy to prepare something on my own, I go to Panera Bread for my favorite salads. One of my favorite salads at Panera is the Asian Sesame Chicken Salad, which is as good as, if not better than my homemade version. Panera is my go-to place because I love the casual and healthy vibe of the restaurant and the food is great. First of all, Panera is all about “Clean” food; they are on a journey to serve clean food and dedicated to remove artificial colors, sweeteners, flavors and preservatives in all of their U.S. Bakery Cafes by the end of 2016. Panera wants to be an ally for wellness for the millions of guests they serve each week as they firmly believe in its motto: “Panera Bread. Food as it should be.”

Panera strives to make good food. Not only food you crave, but food that’s good for you. Food that will make the rest of you feel as good as your taste buds. It comes from a good place, and is made with seasonal, clean ingredients. Panera wants their guests to revel in the joy of good eating and to share the experience of good food.

Is there one of your preparations of tofu that you’d suggest to go along with this dish? I got this slab of tofu at the Asian supermarket and I’m kind of at a loss regarding how to prepare it. Stuff I’ve found so far have stated that it should be sliced and dried, including seasoned with salt, before frying, as well as possibly coated with flour, potato starch, rice flour, and corn starch. Then there’s pan-frying versus deep frying. Sorry, I’m kind of overwhelmed with choices. The salad, without the tofu, is great, though. I kinda went to town and added various other ingredients that have been in other versions of the dish, including almond slices, rice sticks, and Mandarin oranges or tangerines. The dressing/marinate really makes the dish.